


Windwell Chateau

by Hawkseyebrow



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Hermann the cute ghost AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-03
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-03 17:41:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17288492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hawkseyebrow/pseuds/Hawkseyebrow
Summary: Everyone knows that the Windwell Chateau is haunted. Everyone knows that Hermann is the nicest ghost you could imagine. That is, everyone except any newcomers...





	1. The Pentecost family

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_apocalypse_is_cancelled](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_apocalypse_is_cancelled/gifts).



A pair of children, neither looking older than maybe fifteen at most, stood before a house. In fact, a term “mansion” would better describe what they were seeing. A few centuries old and surprisingly well-preserved, considering it has been uninhabited for as long as any resident of the nearby town could remember.

“Are you sure about this, Jake?” the girl with asian features whispered.

“Sure!” answered the dark-skinned boy. Looking at the pair you would have never guessed that they are siblings. They were as different as two people could be and yet it was nearly impossible to see them too far away from each other. “He’s nice.” he added, moving towards the entrance.

The girl hesitated for a moment. The mansion did not look gloomy. Quite the opposite, in fact. It was facing east, so the morning sun made the façade glow a beautiful shade of white. The trees planted in front of it casted moving shadows onto the building, making it seem peaceful and inviting. But she already knew what awaited her inside and that knowledge made her stop.

“Come on, Mako!” yelled Jake, already standing on the porch. His voice startled his sister, who shook her head and jogged to join him. He gave her a reassuring smile and stepped inside.

“Yo, Gottlieb, you there?” Jake Pentecost’s voice resonated through the empty house when the boy screamed at the top of his lungs right after the doors closed behind them.

“I’m right here.” replied a very dry and unamused voice from behind them. Both kids jumped, one a bit higher than the other, and then turned around sharply.

“Fuck!” squeaked Jack, while Mako let out a high yelp and stared at the partially transparent man, who floated just above the ground, and who, by all accounts, truly was the ghost of the mansion.

“Please refrain from using such language in this household, mister Pentecost.” he said flatly and turned his attention to the scared girl. “I’m terribly sorry, miss. I did not verify whether mister Jake had a companion or not, simply because to this day he always arrived alone. ” he sounded apologetic.

The girl only stared at him with unblinking eyes. The ghost fidgeted with his hands before he seemed to realize what he was doing and linked them behind his back.

“I did not mean to scare you.” he said gently, lowering himself a little, so that his face was at the same level as the girl's. The lower half of his body disappeared into the floor. “It's just that mister Jake seems to like this kind of games and I merely…” the ghost paused and upon receiving no reaction looked at the boy for help.

“I told you that he's nice.” said Jake with a shrug, taking his school backpack off his shoulders. The ghost looked back at the girl.

“I’m doctor Hermann Gottlieb.” he said, first extending a hand, then taking it back when he remembered that shaking it might not be a nice sensation. In this moment he looked like a very lost puppy. Maybe that finally broke the shock that kept the girl from moving, because she shook her head.

“Mako Mori” she said quietly, straightening herself and bowing quickly. A soft smile appeared on the ghost’s face.

“Well, miss Mori, welcome to the Windwell Chateau.” he said proudly, also straightening his spine and returning to his original position, where his toes hovered just above the ground, but never quite touched it. “Mister Jake had told me a lot of good things about you.” he added, eyeing the child politely.

“There is a new guy in town!” Jake chimed in before Mako had a chance to respond. He seemed very excited to share the news. Hermann furrowed his brows.

“Is there now?” he asked conversationally, flowing deeper into the house and gesturing for the children to follow.

“Oh yes, he’s weird but also quite cool? He has loads of tattoos and pierced lips and he rides a motorcycle!” the boy exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his hands. He followed the ghost, his sister toddling behind him. She again looked uncertain, now that the ghost’s attention wasn’t fixed on her anymore.

“That sounds,” the ghost moved his hand in the air, indicating that he was looking for the right word. “dreadful.” he finished after a moment. “Tea?” asked Hermann quickly, turning and floating backwards through the dining room with a huge table taking up most of the room.

“Sure.” shrugged Jake.

“Yes, please.” mumbled Mako shyly. The ghost nodded.

“Please, sit down, I’ll be with you shortly.” he said, then opened a door at the end of the room. Behind them, the children could see a kitchen. Like everything in the mansion, it was sparkling clean and scarily organized. Not even one thing seemed to be out of place.

“See? He’s awesome!” whispered the boy, sitting down on one of the chairs and putting his backpack on the table. 

“So you’ve said.” answered the girl, hesitantly taking a seat. Her bag stayed firmly on the ground, next to the chair she picked. She looked around the room, taking in all the details that decorated it. “It’s a nice house.” she said quietly.

“Don’t tell that to Gottlieb, the guy won’t shut up about it for the next twenty minutes if you praise anything in this house.” chuckled the boy. He took out one of the notebooks and started to flick through it, clearly looking for a specific page.

Mako started fidgeting in her seat, finally sliding down onto the floor again and tentatively making her way into the kitchen. She knocked on the doorframe before entering the room.

“Yes?” asked the ghost with a confused expression, turning towards her.

“Do you need any help?” the girl asked, looking at her shoes. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, only that it seemed polite to offer help.

“I could, in fact, use some assistance with setting up the table, if you would.” answered Hermann, his eyes shining with delight. It wasn’t often that something, or in this case someone, interrupted the routine of his existence. He wasn’t unhappy, far from it, but it was still interesting to do something different once in a while, even if the whole difference was letting someone else take teacups to the table.

He carefully entrusted his beloved porcelain to the child, telling her the story of how the whole set got into his possession. He hovered anxiously next to her when she walked the short distance to the table, ready to grab the precious thing, had the need arise. If Mako noticed how wary the ghost was, she didn’t comment on it.

Instead, the girl carefully put teacups on the table and smiled at him. Hermann’s answering one was a little bit strained and full of relief. They both returned to the kitchen, leaving Jake eyeing them suspiciously. The water just started to boil, and so the ghost made sure that the girl was staying at a safe distance and poured it into the teapot, over previously-prepared leaves.

“How can you grab anything?” asked Mako suddenly, just as he put the kettle back down. Hermann visibly tensed for a moment before turning towards her.

“You mean because I'm,” he choked on the next word, but quickly cleared his throat. “a ghost?” he finished sharply. The girl twitched, hearing the hollow note in his voice. That made him withdraw a bit.

“I apologize, miss. It’s not a particularly jolly subject for me.” he explained quickly. One thing he hated more than his eternal state of being not quite dead yet, but already not alive anymore, was the thought of becoming even less human. He didn’t want people to fear him, much less children to do so. 

“I can make my limbs solid if I’m willing to.” he answered the question, quickly turning back towards the tea, embarrassed by his behavior. He knew that he could sometimes be what younglings call “an asshole” these days, but he had an awful character when he was alive. Being mean to people felt like remnants of his life. Scaring children felt like hitting the skids that led straight towards damnation.

“I’m sorry for bringing this up.” said Mako quietly. 

“No, no, don’t be sorry!” Hermann flowed down to face the child again. “You were just curious, there is nothing wrong with being curious.” he crooned, delicately moving a strand of stray hair away from the girl’s face. She looked at him with wide eyes. The ghost managed not to touch her skin directly, but she could still feel the coolness radiating from his hand.

Hermann smiled a crooked kind of smile, as if he had never quite figured out how to do it properly, and grabbed the teapot. He had Mako take some silverware spoons and a little pot of milk from the fridge, and then followed her back to the table.

“Finally.” mumbled Jake, eagerly moving his teacup towards the ghost with a pleading expression. Normally, Hermann would scold him for his lack of manners, but since his words seemed to have little effect on the boy, he refrained himself to merely shooting him a warning glare and pouring the cup.

“Seriously, I have no idea how, but your tea is the only tea that doesn’t taste like grass.” the boy sighed after taking a sip. Hermann preened a bit at the praise and offered the teapot to Mako, who nodded.

“I find it hard to believe that the art of making tasteful tea is entirely lost these days.” commented the ghost casually, starting a long discussion about preserving traditions. He was just in a middle of explaining the specifics of creating tapestry, both children listening to him with fascination written all over their faces, the tea long gone, when there was a knock at the door.

Hermann excused himself and went to answer the doors with incredible speed. On the other side stood a man who bore an unmistakable resemblance to the boy inside.

“Doctor Gottlieb.” the man said, nodding sharply.

“Master Pentecost!” answered the ghost, his voice tinted with surprise. He moved away from the doors, motioning the guest into the house.

“Am I correct to assume that I’ll find both of my children in here?” asked the man, stepping inside.

“Yes, yes, they’re in the dining room.” the ghost hurried forwards, his expression apologetic. “I didn’t notice how late it’s gotten, my perception of time is… flawed.” he explained quickly, anxiously looking between his interlocutor and the window.

“I know, doctor, it’s fine.” said Pentecost friendly.

“I simply assumed that master and lady Kaidonovsky will be back before evening, they just went out to get some supplies.” Hermann stopped suddenly. “Do you know what happened to them?” he asked worriedly.

“I believe they got into a rather heated dispute with a potential buyer.” answered the man cautiously.

“A potential buyer?” Hermann furrowed his brows.

“Of the mansion.” the guest clarified.

“What?!” the ghost’s whole body flickered, the edges getting sharply blurred for a moment. “Why would they,” he sputtered and then stopped, at loss of words. Pentecost sighed slightly.

“You can’t expect them to take care of the mansion forever, Gottlieb.” he said. “They aren’t young anymore.” he added, watching the ghost warily.

“But I can take care of it!” the ghost throwing his arms out in an unusual indication of emotion. Pentecost just stared at him. They’ve discussed it before and the man didn’t want to prove, once again, that a ghost isn’t able to do everything. Hermann flickered again. “What if,” he started.

“You can’t keep scaring people away.” interrupted Pentecost sharply, making the ghost twitch uneasily and glare at him. The man simply returned the stare steadily until Hermann looked down. 

“Just try?” asked the guest almost pleadingly, but received no answer. “I know that you consider this mansion your property, but it’s not. At least not legally. The building has to have a living owner, and you know it, Hermann.” the sudden use of his name rattled the ghost.

“I can’t promise you anything, but I can give them a chance?” he sounded so unsure that the statement practically turned into a question.

“That’s all I ask.” replied Pentecost simply. The ghost nodded and entered the dining room, intent on handing the children over to their father.


	2. Now you see me

Hermann looked through the window nervously. That was it. That was the day. The day the mysterious person would come and see what they were buying. Potentially. To say that the ghost was nervous was a bit of an understatement. 

He spent the entire night cleaning and straightening everything up, in the end making the living inhabitants of the mansion, a pair of elderly Russians, actually threaten to put salt on every doorstep in the entire mansion, effectively trapping him in one place, unless he stopped waking them up constantly.

The thing is, even though Hermann hated the thought of someone new moving into his house, he still wanted them to like this place. The mansion was the only thing he cared about anymore. It was his responsibility and his pride. As much as he didn’t want anyone moving in, he also didn’t want anyone to think poorly of this place.

The truth was, he was a bit afraid of letting some unknown person live here. What if they decided to get rid of the ghost haunting their new household? What if they decided to tear the mansion down and build something else in this place? What if they decided to never let anyone in and prevent Hermann from seeing people from the town?!

However, his fears didn’t change the fact, that Kaidonovskys were trying to sell the mansion. He harboured no ill will towards them for that, just as he’d assured them repeatedly. In the end, they weren’t first owners of the mansion after Hermann came back to haunt it. They were just tough enough to not get freaked out by the mere presence of a ghost. They also managed to keep this particular ghost in check almost constantly, which was quite an unusual treat.

For example, they managed to make him promise that he wouldn’t show himself to the buyer when they arrived to see the property. He didn’t really understand the sentiment. The buyer would have to find out eventually, so better sooner than later, right? But he had made a promise and by jove he was going to keep it.

Even though the buyer turned out to be this dreadful man Jake told him about.

He didn’t like him on sight. Loud, carefree attitude, covered in tattoos and leaving muddy footprints on the floor. Simply awful. Hermann barely restrained himself to remain invisible and quietly follow, as the married couple showed the guest around. The man seemed particularly interested in the extensive library and the astronomy room in the tower that contained a, now considered ancient, telescope.

Hermann was so focused on remaining collected and not rattling or, worse, breaking anything accidently, that he didn’t really take in the conversation between humans. So, when the man finally left, he still haven’t even gotten his name.

“What do you think, prizrak?” asked Sasha casually after closing the door. Hermann hastily appeared in front of her.

“He’s awful.” he declared simply, crossing his arms on his chest and looking her in the eye stubbornly.

“I like the little man. He seems nice.” countered Aleksis, shrugging.

“It doesn’t even matter if he’s nice or not, he won’t be staying here anyway.” said the ghost.

“Oh, don’t you start with your haunting nonsense again!” the woman raised her finger warningly. Behind her back, her husband boo-ed a few times, imitating what movies seemed to imply were noises that ghosts somehow made.

“Ohhhh, the wardrobe is moviiiing~” he teased in similar voice, waving his fingers.

Hermann stared at him impassively.

“Ohhhh, better run, mere mortal, this place is haunted by meeee~” the man continued.

“Hysterical.” declared the ghost flatly, clearly not impressed. “I don’t sound like that.” he added quickly, just to make it clear.

“Don’t mind him, prizrak.” Sasha chimed in reassuringly. “You sound more like,” she pretended to consider something for a moment and then continued in a purposefully low and dramatic voice. “This is MY house!”

“Oh, very funny!” growled Hermann, frustrated. The married couple just laughed in unison. It was hard to be mad at them when they were so obviously enjoying themselves. It’s not like they didn’t good-naturedly poke fun at him on regular basis when he was acting petty.

Apparently they’ve decided to treat his reluctance to even try to give ‘the little man’ a chance as petty. But he did manage to convince them that showing himself on the man’s second visit would be better than potentially wasting time on multiple ghost-less visits only for him to run to the hills as soon as he saw Hermann.

That’s why he spent yet another night busy with making sure everything looked just as it should be, but this time focusing on himself. He didn’t particularly want to impress the man, but looking presentable was just in good taste.

The problem with being a ghost was that he couldn’t really wear clothes, not unless he wanted to solidify his whole body, which he really didn’t. It took a lot of concentration and wasn’t all that enjoyable. What he could do, however, was change his appearance at will. 

Not the physical features, he was too afraid to tinker with that, but the clothes. Normally he would just float around in one set of them, the one that didn’t require too much of his attention anymore. After all they weren’t physical, it’s not like they could get dirty or worn-out. He changed them every now and then, so that he didn’t look too out of place in terms of ever-changing fashion.

All he needed to do was visualize them. It seemed simple in theory, but proved to be rather hard to execute properly. He would often end up with blurry, incomplete or somehow inconsistent clothing while trying out a new idea. Sometimes it would just look weird and he didn’t really know how to fix it, so he was forced to simply give up.

This time he decided to go for what seemed like an up-to-date and elegant, but still not too official outfit. An off-white shirt, a lovely sweater vest and a dark blazer with matching pants plus some dress shoes. The Kaidonovskys just both raised an eyebrow when they saw him in the morning. The same eyebrow. At the same time. He was actually scared of them a little bit in that moment.

He still trusted that they would tell him if he looked ridiculous though. When they didn’t comment, he congratulated himself on a job well done. That’s when the doorbell rang. 

Hermann quickly faded and, out of habit, took a deep, slightly nervous breath. He waited patiently when the Kaidonovskys greeted the guest and took him into the ballroom, which has served the purpose of a living room for quite some time now. He waited patiently when they negociated the price and the conditions of the sale. 

The buyer didn’t look intimidating, but it was clear that he was quite clever and he bargained hard with the Russians. In the end they didn’t really reach an agreement, but they seemed closer to it than they were in the morning. When the humans started gathering their things and getting up, Hermann perked up. He didn’t pay much attention to the details of the talk, since they didn’t concern him. The only thing that mattered was if the transaction will take place at all.

And that largely depended on the outcome of their meeting. Which was about to happen. Normally, Hermann was a picture of calm, but right now he felt like bursting with anticipation. It wasn’t often that he got the chance to meet someone new, especially someone, who wasn’t a toddler. Their town wasn’t a popular tourist destination and few of those who visited were interested in staying for more than one day.

The Kaidonovskys and the little man, as they still insisted on calling him, were nearly to the door now. The Russians seemed reluctant to tell him about Hermann’s existence and for a minute there the ghost thought that they might not do it at all, but just before they reached the door, Aleksis spoke.

“There is one more thing we need to tell you.” the man said, hesitantly. “About the manor.” he added quickly. They buyer furrowed his brows and turned around to face the married couple.

“What is it?” he asked with a curious expression.

“There is someone… living in the manor. Permanently.” said Sasha, watching the guest closely for his reaction.

“Oh, like they’re renting a room or something?” the man asked casually, seemingly unbothered by the idea.

“More like,” started Aleksis and turned to his wife, at loss of words.

“More like haunting the place?” she offered.

Hermann took pity on them and simply showed himself in front of Sasha, in the place between them and the guest. Like always, he hovered just above the ground. There was a moment of silence and then the buyer broke into laughter, startling every other person and ghost in the room.

Then he walked forward and went straight through Hermann. The ghost gasped and wrapped his arms around himself, an expression of pure terror appearing on his face. 

“Yeah, I don’t really believe in ghosts.” the man said, carelessly putting an arm on Sasha’s shoulder and patting it lightly. “I’m a scientist, you know.” he added with a smile, then turned around and walked back towards the door.

Hermann managed to get himself together just in time to jerk away from his path, nearly missing another close encounter.

“Thanks for the talk, guys. I’m sure we can get to a sweet agreement pretty soon. Have a nice day!” he waved at the shocked Russians and got outside, closing the door behind him with a quiet click.

“How dare he?!” squeaked Hermann, breaking the following silence. He sounded shocked, wounded even. He frantically looked between the humans and the entrance, searching for an explanation that wasn’t in either of those places. “I’m right here!” he added in a small and helpless voice. He just couldn’t wrap his head around the idea. What kind of a scientist doesn’t believe in ghosts? What kind of a person doesn’t believe in ghosts?!

“Prizrak?” Sasha’s gentle voice cut through his racing thoughts. “Are you…” she started, but Hermann didn’t hear the rest of the sentence. He dashed away without any particular destination in mind and ended up in the astronomy room in a matter of seconds. He curled up next to the telescope, not really on the floor as he didn’t quite touch it, but just above it. 

He just sat there, thoughts rushing through his head one after another, almost too fast to catch. Thoughts such as wondering if maybe the man had been right and, according to the laws of modern science, Hermann shouldn’t even exist. He remembered the moment a living human being went through him, the overwhelming heat that threatened to burn him to ashes had the contact lasted longer.

That’s how Mako found him, an indefinite time later. “Doctor Gottlieb?” she asked in a small voice, looking at the slumped figure that only partially resembled the ghost she remembered from their previous meeting. He was blinking in and out of sight, his form blurred and unevenly transparent.

Upon hearing her voice, the man raised his head, or what in that moment was the most head-shaped part of him, and looked at her with hollow eyes that seemed to bore into her very soul. The child shuddered, but stepped closer.

“What happened?” she asked, feeling just a little bit terrified of the creature before her. The logical part of her was torn between thinking that the gentle ghost from before wouldn’t hurt her, even in this horrifying form, and thinking that she’d only met him once and shouldn’t assume such things.

“Did someone hurt you?” she continued, taking another step closer. She didn’t know how someone could hurt a ghost, but the man looked like a wounded person to her. She carefully sat down next to him, leaving a bit of distance between them. 

“N-no.” came the answer in a voice that definitely didn’t sound human at all. It would have been hard to pinpoint the meaning of the words he spoke, had there been more of them or if they had been more complicated. His voice seemed to come from all directions at once and yet sound distant and strongly resonate. The girl just sat there in silence, picking at her shoelaces and keeping the ghost company until he spoke again.

“He didn’t see me.” said Hermann after a while, sounding more put-together, but not completely normal yet. “It’s like I wasn’t even there.” he added, looking at the wall.

“How could he not have seen you?” asked Mako quietly, turning her head towards him. 

“He doesn’t believe that I exist. At least I think that’s the reason, I don’t see how else,” his voice wavered and the ghost fell silent, leaving the sentence unfinished.

“Than make him believe.” said the girl with this special kind of certainty only a child could have. Hermann looked at her. He wanted to say that it wasn’t that simple, but then hesitated. It was, indeed, that simple. He just sat there for a moment, looking at Mako with his mouth, now perfectly human-looking, hanging slightly open.

“I believe that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”


End file.
